Raymond Theel, Autumn
Autumn depicts an ordinary but beautiful moment in the forest in late fall. Beech trees on a snowy hill form a dense pattern of shapes and textures. The thick, sensuous impasto and dramatic color relationships between the deep red-orange leaves and blue-purple trees makes for a dynamic tableau. A stream moves diagonally back through the forest while the autumn leaves float in space.
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Raymond Theel was my grandfather. I have his self portrait done after the fire and, from what I have been told, after he suffered a stroke explaining why his painting shows him in full beard. I also have a water color he did as a wedding or anniversary gift to his brother Percival. I do not know the age of the painting but it is rather unique with heavily applied colors. It is a still life of a vase of peonies and is in its original frame. It is somewhat fragile as I can see where some of the paint is cracking under the glass.
Kathleen Boyer -
My parents (Anton and Mary Urban of Jarrettown, Philly and Ambler, PA) were friends with both your grandfather and grandmother and your grandfather's brother Percy and his wife Hattie. When I was a child, your grandfather helped a group of us dig a pool on his property next to the creek. When I married my late husband David in 1948, your grandfather and grandmother presented us with a still life oil painting of a vase of flags, tulips and lilacs as a wedding gift. Percival and Hattie had the frame made for it as a wedding gift. After 67 years, it still hangs on my wall. Good memories. Fondly, Eileen
Eileen Urban Scheirer